NO! NO! Derrick Williams Denies Derrick Williams.

It took Derrick Williams one season to practice passing to his teammates. Right after he was traded to the Sacramento Kings, Williams have mastered that craft.

Now that he's done with that level, he decides to lift it up a little bit and practice something that only players of great skill can perfect, a pass to himself. Not to mention, through the backboard.

Last night was the perfect opportunity, as his Sacramento Kings blew out the visiting Chicago Bulls. The result was far from perfect.

(c) SBNation

It was a beautiful, wide open lane, Kings up by at least 30 --that's right, the Bulls were that bad last night--, and Derrick Williams got a purpose. All of these are the perfect ingredient to pull out what Williams wanted to accomplish. It was a cool and swift pass off the backboard, nice elevation, and of course, a hillarious fall out.

Good thing it was a blow out and the Kings won, so this one falls beneath Javale McGee- antics in terms of boneheadedness.

See you on Shaqtin'-A-Fool, Derrick "NoNoNoNo" Williams.

 

PBA Scenes: Petron Blaze Boosters vs Rain or Shine Elasto Painters Semifinals Game 4

Best of the Night. Everytime the Elasto Painters win a ballgame, it's gonna be hard picking up who or what was the best of the night simply because they are playing spread up basketball. Because of that, and because no one really outshined the others in this game, I'm giving best of the night honors to the whole roster, especially to coach Caloy "Cool Head" Garcia... just because they won, 88-83, and are a shoe away from the Philippine Cup finals. That must be sweet for Jeric Teng and Raymond Almazan. Obvious reasons, duh.

(C) Nuki Sabio/PBA

Worst of the Night. As I said last night, every ejection is worst of the night. So expect Yeng Guiao in here. The bald, hot headed Pampanga politician and proball coach got ejected in the third quarter for two technicals. To make matters worse than worst, this is his second consecutive ejection. But of course, thanks to his assistant coach Caloy, his boys won the game. So everything's just okay tonight. 

Ankle Breaker. This is about Paul Lee. Nah, that's not the ankle breaker that you're thinking. The Lethal Weapon went down in the second quarter, buckled his ankles, and was out for the game. We are yet to see his status by tomorrow. Regardless, we all hope he is fine. At least now, he's already aware of what might happen if you try to stop a streaking Chris Ross laying a basketball up.  

Speaking of Chris Ross. The guy is still wearing that weird, oversized compression shirt! So he's a candidate for worst of the night too. Good thing he lost that match to coach Yeng.

Kraken Watch. June Mar Fajardo was his beastly self, scoring 29 points and grabbing 16 rebounds. He was the sole fuel for the Blaze Boosters in the game. That is why Rain or Shine's defense collapsed at him most of the time, and I really don't know why coach Gee Abanilla wouldn't change his attacks. Anyway, if there's something positive about Petron tonight, it's the Kraken. The fist fight against Rain or Shine bigs didn't happen yet though. Again, maybe next game.

Araniac. Ryan Arana was the best player of the game with 12 points and key assists throughout. So I think he deserves a highlight on this one. Cool pink shoes though, Ryan! And socks too, by the way.

Quote. "I take my hat off to coach Caloy for not giving up where I gave up." - coach Yeng Guiao. This is actually sweet, and coach Yeng surely owes coach Caloy a sack of tocino.

Bits.

-Again, the worst Chris was Chris Tiu. 0 points, 'nuff said.

-Beau Belga had 4 difficult-to-stomach fouls in 19 minutes! Being Belga, you'd probably think he'll foul out, and you would surely be wrong. Beau finished the game with 3 points and JUST those 4 fouls. Kindda cool.

-Before going down in the 2nd quarter, Paul Lee already had 7 points. Imagine if he finished the game.

-I'm not sure, but are these players exchanging shoes?!

-And I'll just have to say that the halftime game "Dribol of the Pipol" is pure bopol.

HUGE shoutout to Doug Baldwin and the rest of the Seahawks for slaughtering the defenseless Denver Broncos earlier at Super Bowl XLVIII.

No games tomorrow. Action resumes on Wednesday, February 5, 2013, where the San Mig Coffee Mixers look to start piling dirt at Barangay Ginebra, and take their own 3-1 series edge. Ginebra will retaliate, of course.

PBA Scenes: Barangay Ginebra San Miguel vs San Mig Super Coffee Mixers Semifinals Game 3

Best of the Night. The little ones for San Mig Coffee. Mark Barroca stayed in form and led his San Mig Coffee Mixers to a 97-89 win over Manila Clasico rival Barangay Ginebra. The Coffee Prince dropped 25 points, grabbed 8 boards, and dished 5 dimes for his team, who now took a 2-1 series edge over their sister team. But two little ones are better than one little one, so Justin Melton basically joined the fray. That was a cool way to bounce back after Game 2's stoppage.

Worst of the Night. Mac Baracael's ejection. This is plain boneheaded. This is the night's worst because he obviously could have helped Ginebra on both sides of the floor. Every player has a crucial role in the playoffs, so until further notice, every ejection will be worst of the night.  

Sakuragi. The opening tip activated the Gilas persona of San Mig Coffee's ace big man Marc Pingris. He dominated the opening minutes scoring 6 of their first 8 points. Pingris' explosion dictated the flow, giving Tim Cone's boys a 20-6 run early. It ended quite early though, but Pingris wasn't done. His defensive presence was everywhere. He's tough. He started guarding LA Tenorio, went over to Mark Caguioa, then to Japeth Aguilar, then ended up guarding Greg Slaughter. Every time SMC needs to stop a guy, Ping was the answer. And he did quite an amazing job. He always does. Next.

Gregzilla. Greg Slaughter stepped it up tonight. The top rookie selection carried Ginebra through the first half, notching 19 points and 9 rebounds. Of course, like the most cliche statement in Philippine basketball, Ginebra never said die, and actually took a one point lead through the half. Slaughter finished with 29 points. Just equally massive as his frame.

Accessory Watch. They're not necessary actually, but they are facts we see in every basketball game. Tonight was no different. First of, I want to commend Chris Ellis for being such a swagger. As I said in a tweet, Ellis is the unofficial Jordan brand player of the PBA. With the remaining teams in the playoffs, two Chrises sport a compression shooting shirt, and we saw the better compression shirt tonight. Chris Ross' is plain dreadful that we all wait for the day he takes them off, so I tip a headband to Chris Ellis. -- Next--. I don't need to say anything more, Rafi Reavis' double arm sleeves were dope. If only it helped him with his shooting, it would have been better. But looks-wise, it's okay. Speaking of sleeves, James Yap's sure helped his stroke after he scored 13 points. The only thing bad is, it doesn't look good, and fresh.

Quote. "We're still not comfortable being 2-1. We need to be an A+ team to beat this team." -coach Tim Cone.

Bits.

-San Mig Coffee started the game without a real point guard. It actually worked.

-Is Japeth Aguilar hurt or something? He's playing outside himself.

-A lot of rookies are playing crucial roles in this series. Great future for the league.

-The series still catches more money compared to the other one.

-Joe Devance's hair is, well, on top of everybody.

-We must expect a lot more fire in the days to come.

Game tomorrow features the 4th game of the Petron Blaze Boosters and Rain or Shine Elasto Painters semifinals series.

PBA Scenes: Petron Blaze Boosters vs Rain or Shine Elasto Painters Semifinals Game 3

Best of the Night. Arwind Santos scored 22 points, grabbed 18 boards, and shot perfect from the line, making sure there's no 2nd half collapse this afternoon. Good way for the reigning MVP to bounce back after a rollercoaster conference. Santos' efforts helped his team take one win from their best of 7 series against the sneaky Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, who still have a 2-1 series edge. Aside from these, Arwind did a little bit more.

(c) Nuki Sabio/PBA

Worst of the Night. Yeng Guiao's bald, hot head. Speaking of Arwind Santos doing a little bit more, Petron's star got into the opposing coach's nerves. Standing by the sideline late in the third having a technical foul from the previous quarters, coach Yeng Guiao did a silly choice taunting Santos. That altercation brought him his second technical which basically resulted into an early meeting with the locker room. Knowing Guiao's gut and system, he could have done something in the fourth for them to chop and overtake. The problem was he wasn't even present in their huddles anymore.

Blowout. 106-73. The Blaze Boosters, by the way, won by 33 points. They did, and they just need to.

Compression Shirt Watch. Chris Ross is still wearing that weird, white, oversized compression shirt, but he dropped 8 magnificent points and played solid leadership, so everything's just fine.

Quotation. "This win is a big lift for us. Coming into Game Four, we’ll have more confidence, but we have to manage our emotions. We don’t want to turn it into something outrageous." - Petron headcoach Gee Abanilla.

Bits.

-Chris Lutz actually contributed good numbers this afternoon, that's a first in this series.


-Alex Cabagnot too.


-The long awaited JuneMar Fajardo vs Rain or Shine big, bully boys fist fight didn't happen yet,

next game maybe.


-Chris Tiu is the worst Chris in Game 3. He had 7 points.


-So it's not a bad night for the Chrises, except for Ross' compression shirt.







Game 4 is on Monday, 8pm.
Tomorrow's game features Barangay Ginebra taking on San Mig Coffee in their own semifinals Game 3.

PBA Scenes: Barangay Ginebra San Miguel vs San Mig Super Coffee Mixers Semifinals Game 2

Best of the Night. The whole of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel. Their big men, their wings, their backcourt, their transition offense, their zone defense, their bench, their coaching staff, their ball boys, their towel boys, their fans. Everything. BGSM simply clicked on all cylinders tonight. That dominance brought them a 93-64 win over Tim Cone's boys, eventually tying their semifinal series at 1 game a piece. I can't even think of anything right now, but I'm sending a special shoutout to Greg Slaughter's 21 points, 12 boards, and beardless face. Next.

Worst of the Night. Justin Melton's minutes. Tim Cone's logic is pretty weird in this game with regard to his uprising star. The past three games, Melton made significant and necessary plays that delivered them goods. He's playing spectacular, so coach Tim didn't play him much tonight. Weird. I really thought Cone would have given him extended minutes to help his struggling squad break down BGSM's zone defense. With Melton's ability to cut through the lane, it would have been beneficial if he had his minutes extended. Oh well, next.

The Fast. Jayjay Helterbrand was shooting a bunch of jumpers prior to each game, maybe just to wash away that washed up stigma. Those jumpers worked a lot for him tonight. Mr. Fast earned himself the Mr. Quality Minutes award this game. 11 points in about 11 minutes on a decent shooting night did it right for Lamberto. 

The Physicals. Tonight's physicals feature Greg Slaughter and Chris Ellis. It's not because of a scuffle, for obvious reasons. I decided to have them here because of their physical dunks in the third quarter. Ellis' reverse one hander and Slaughter's one hand tomahawk ignited Brgy. Big Dome to rise on its feet. Chants that followed were all familiar.

Bits.

-Rafi Reavis had a shining moment when he denied Slaughter from behind. Cool sneak, Reavis.

-This series still has a better gate attendance. Uh, duh.

-Is James Yap washing his elbow pad? Just asking.

-LA Tenorio has bent himself more than anyone for the sake of a reverse lay-up. That is given, so next.

-Barangay Ginebra has a player named Bryan Faundo.

-Who the hell is Bryan Faundo?

Special shoutout to my home town Ilocos Sur! Happy Kannawidan Festival! Enjoy!

Tomorrow's game pits the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters against the Petron Blaze Boosters in Game 3 of their own series. ROS leads 2-0.  

The Kraken is Mad, and it's Good.

June Mar Fajardo is 6-10 and about 300. That's a lot of mass. Yet, considering his monster form, he's been the nicest and most gentle PBA star today. 

That is until the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters' Larry Rodriguez crawled into his nerves.

Disruptions from ROS' defense took the cool away from Fajardo's head. His offense, of course, followed. That led to the Painters' eventual victory, taking a 2-0 series lead in their semifinal duel.

I don't know, but everytime I see June Mar losing his cool, it's quite exciting. Considering that he's a gigantic frame out there, if the action burst and went ou of control, it would be so awesome to watch. I'm an MMA fan after all. 

PBA Scenes: Petron Blaze Boosters vs Rain or Shine Elasto Painters Game 2.

Best of the Night. Rain or Shine's defense, obviously. Though the Boosters controlled the pace of the game for about 43 minutes, Rain or Shine was able to boil Boosters' big man JuneMar Fajardo. Even if the Kraken finished with team high 20 points, his flow was disrupted when it matters most. Another thing, Petron forgot that Rain or Shine are experts of the transition game. So even if it was effective for the Boosters, it's given that the Painters will eventually find out and mix the perfect formula for its antidote.

Worst of the Night. Chris Lutz's 7 points numbers-wise, and Chris Ross' black oversized compression shirt looks-wise. Pretty harsh night for the Chrises. By the way, Chris Tiu had 0 points in about 12 minutes, so yeah.

His name is "Jeff-three". If you hear someone hit a crucial three, lots of names would pop into your head. But if they're back-to-back crucial three's, Jeff Chan may pop into majority's brains. And guess what, majority's right! Chan hit two straight three's that ignited the Painters' 23-6 run in the dying minutes. Jeff-three scored 20 points, his best output in recent memory.

The Physicals. I don't know, but everytime Yousef Taha enters a game, trouble is always around. Early in the first half, Taha and Painters rookie Jeric Teng go at each other's face after a hard foul. But the ultimate physicality was brought in by Rain or Shine bullies Raymond Almazan, Beau Belga, and Larry Rodriguez. The trio had fair shares of elbows and slaps towards Fajardo's gigantic built. I was a little bit frustrated nothing escalated between ROS bigmen and the Kraken. That would have been fun to watch.

Bits. 

-It's obvious that this series doesn't catch a lot of cash compared to the BGSM-SMC series.     
-Ryan Arana's shoes are still awesomely pink.

-Arwind Santos' shoes won't get left behind, they're still yellow-greenly highlighted.

-I don't know, but JR Quinahan is playing like he's hurt.

-Yousef Taha had extended playing minutes, highlighted by that ferocious two handed jam.

-I can't contain my happiness everytime I spot Alvin and Jeron Teng in the stands without camera focus.

No games tomorrow, Thursday, January 30th. BGSM-SMC Game 2 will be played on Friday.